


Wild Blood

by grabdog



Category: Digimon - All Media Types, Digimon Tamers
Genre: Ancient Technology, Animal Transformation, Conspiracy, Crushes, Digimon/Human Relationships, Family Fluff, Friendship, Gen, High School, Shapeshifting, inspired by Animorphs, very light body horror
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-14
Updated: 2020-11-20
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:22:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 14,435
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27551476
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/grabdog/pseuds/grabdog
Summary: When an ancient artifact is uncovered in Siberia, 18-year old Takato wakes up covered in feathers.With trouble in the Digital World, ancient conspiracies, shady government agents, and teenage hormones abound, can Takato, Jenrya, and Ruki learn to control their new shapeshifting powers in time to save the world? Again?
Relationships: Katou Juri | Jeri Katou/Matsuda Takato | Takato Matsuki, Lee Jianliang | Henry Wong & Makino Ruki | Rika Nonaka
Kudos: 2





	1. Whoa! Hands!

**Author's Note:**

> Hey there! Thanks for checking out Wild Blood. This story started as some silly "what-if's" but was just too much fun to write, so it's evolved into something more. I will be updating this story weekly with new chapters.
> 
> One of the things I loved about Digimon Tamers was seeing our characters forced into situations that they had no context for at all. I always think back to the episode where Guilmon evolved to Growlmon for the first time and Takato spent the entire half hour trying to figure out how to get him to revert back. One thing I see in fanfics is that the characters are already used to the types of situations they're facing once the story starts. 
> 
> All that being said, in Wild Blood the Tamers will once again be pushed into some very new situations to react to, while still staying true to the core of Digimon Tamers. Hope you enjoy!

_From the report of Andrey Rabinovich_

_March 29, 20XX_

_Dearest Oleg,_

_The lands north of the Yamalo-Neneks Okrug are colder than I could have imagined. Only half a day from the last research station, Dr. Akiyama made the call to leave the truck in favor of the two snowmobiles. Though they have sat unused for the last six weeks, I was hoping they would never be needed in the end. Alas, here we are._

_Of course Dr. Akiyama has commandeered the first for himself, leaving me to share with his son. Ryo is cocky beyond belief; he reminds me much of you, Oleg, when we were younger. Still, with the temperature approaching -10° C with windchill, even he has kept quiet today._

_We’ve made camp for the night, but Dr. Akiyama says he believes we are close—only a day or two to go, save some horrible snowstorm. He is fixated on that strange device of his, even more-so than normal. I have no idea what it means, of course, but I see the dials spinning rapidly even as I write this. The son is interested as well; they speak in hushed tones with each other in Japanese._

_The cold and loneliness of the Arctic Circle makes me long for your arms even more._

_All my love,_

_Andrey_

_P.S. I don’t have proof yet, but I am 90% certain that the son Ryo is keeping some animal in that giant bag I told you about._

**Chapter One: "Whoa! Hands!"**

**Takato**

Takato was decidedly _not_ happy when his alarm rang at 7am sharp. It’s not like he _wanted_ to stay up all night; the essay was due the next day, after all, so he didn’t really have a choice. Then again, he did have a choice about spending all weekend with Guilmon at the river. Which he totally didn’t regret… or at least, hadn’t regretted until right now.

And _man_ was his bed soft that morning. The blanket was fluffy and warm, wrapped around him like a soft cave. In one last defiant gesture, Takato squeezed his eyes even tighter shut and burrowed deep into, willing for just five more minutes of wonderful, beautiful sleep.

He must have dozed off, because some time later he was woken once again: this time, by a giant snout.

“Takato-mon,” the snout said, “you smell different.”

<Ughhh… Guilmon, bad breath!> he groaned, finally relenting and opening up his eyes—

–only to come face first with a giant mouth looming right above him, ten times bigger than his head and chock full of _very_ sharp teeth.

<AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!>

“BAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!”

The mouth (and the digimon it was attached to) jumped away.

<You’re HUGE!> Takato shouted, not sure whether to be concerned or amazed at his partner’s sudden growth spurt.

“Huge?” As Guilmon cocked his head and scrutinized his paws in confusion, Takato realized he could see every scale on his partner’s body, even the bits of breadcrumb stuck around his face and belly (why his _belly_?) and… why had he never _seen_ this before?

“Takato-mon, I don’t feel huge,” Guilmon said. “But I guess I was hungry and I ate some buns earlier but I swear they were the stale ones and I only ate two bags… well, maybe three.”

<No, the stale ones are fine,> Takato grumbled and pushed himself up, <it’s just-->

With a squawk of surprise, his arms failed him he faceplanted back into the mattress. _Huh?_ His arms felt weird, kinda scrunched back or something, and his fingers were so _long_ but he couldn’t curl them for some reason.

_Maybe I slept funny?_ Takato thought, lifting a hand up in front of him only to see—

<AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!>

“BAAAAGGAAAAHHHHHH”

<GUILMON stop SCREAMING!! Why do I have a WING!!??>

“BAAAAHHHHHHhh—oh, sorry.”

Takato gazed in horror at the wing that had replaced his arm, speckled with brown and white plumage and tipped with long black feathers. The horror only grew as his eyes traveled down to see more feathers, and then even more, and sticking out of it all two scaly little legs. Heart racing, he shook out of the tangle of blankets and hopped on those weird feet over to his phone on the bedside table.

Staring back at him in the cold glass was the feathered gray head and hooked beak of, well, a bird. He opened his mouth. The bird opened its beak. He cocked his head to the side—the bird tilted its head. He tried to wrinkle his nose, but quickly found he didn’t have a nose to wrinkle.

Guilmon plodded over, his feet making huge reverberations against the floor. The giant dinosaur ( _No,_ Takato corrected himself, _not giant, I’m just a freaking BIRD)_ nuzzled his partner’s side, causing Takato to stumble. He started to say something, but then—

_UMM,_ _how have I even been talking!?_

Eyes wide, Takato hopped around to face his partner and opened his weird, hard mouth and tried to say something, anything. Producing a loud ‘SQUAWK’, he jumped in surprise.

Giant-Guilmon cocked his head again. “Squawk?” he said hesitantly. Takato shook his head frantically—this turned out to be very difficult when you’re a bird—and opened his mouth again, clacking his beak, willing himself to _speak_ , _speak_ —

<SPEAK!>

“SPEAK!” Guilmon grinned, clapping his paws together. “Takato-mon in my head!”

_Head…_ Takato focused, directing his thoughts directly at Guilmon. <Can you hear me, boy?>

“Yeah yeah!” his partner laughed, hopping from foot to foot excitedly. “Like Mar-tin Manhunter!”

<Mar-tin—ahh, yeah! Right, like Martian Manhunter!> The two of them had been watching _Young Justice_ before bed, and Guilmon was becoming quite good at superhero trivia.

Suddenly: <TAKATO!>

Takato winced as his father’s voice split into his head, accompanied by a furious tapping noise against the bottom of his bedroom door.

<Honey, are you alright!? Something is happening!> His mother’s voice, now.

<I’m fine!> he called back, trying to project his thoughts outwards towards his possibly-bird parents. <Umm, yeah, something is definitely happening…>

“Everyone Mar-tin!” Guilmon giggled, trotting to the door and flinging it wide open before his partner could protest. A feathered gray head poked its way around the digimon, followed by a slightly smaller brown one. Takato shuffled awkwardly on the desk and dug his talons even deeper into the wood.

<Hey Mom. Hi, Dad. Umm… I think I’m gonna be late to school?>

\--

**Jenrya**

“Come _on_ guys, it’s easy!” Shiuchon teased. “You’re just thinking too much!”

Jenrya’s father let out an angry growl. <Thinking too much!? Shiuchon, may I please remind you that I _ripped the bed in half this morni— >_

“Ew, too much information!” Terriermon giggled, gliding down from the top of the bookshelf to land lightly on his Tamer’s furry head. “No pressure or anything, just remember that if you don’t figure this out you’ll never have hands ever again!”

<Terriermon!> Jenrya snapped, shaking his head just enough for the digimon to lose his balance.

“Hey! It’s true!”

Honestly, it was true. As much as he didn’t want to believe it, he was now covered in brown fur and cramped into the family’s living room with three massive bears that for some reason he _knew_ were his father, mother, and older brother… oh, and also two digimon and a very smug, very human Shiuchon. This was by far the most uncomfortable ‘Lee family meeting’ he’d ever attended.

“I do believe you will be able to find your human form again,” Lopmon stated from her partner’s shoulder. “Shiuchon, why don’t you explain what you did?”

“I _did_ explain—”

“In _more detail_ than ‘I thought about being human again’, please.”

Shiuchon grumbled something under her breath before putting on that sly grin again and prancing over to the bear that was their oldest brother Rinchei. In a very surreal moment that made Jenrya wish he could pinch himself (alas, no fingers…), the fourteen year old girl wrapped her arms around the massive brown bear’s chest and hauled him towards the center of the room.

<Shiuchon, wha– >

“All RIGHT. As the oldest and therefore bravest of the Lee family children, I’ve selected you as our example.” She released the bear/her brother and slammed both hands down on his haunches, forcing him to plop down in surprise. “Now close your eyes.”

Rinchei glanced nervously towards their mother, the smallest bear who was hovering in the doorway. She stooped her head down slightly and narrowed her eyes in what Jenrya somehow knew was the bear version of a frown. <Shiuchon, please be nice to your brother.>

<Mayumi, we do need to try _something,_ > their father muttered, twitching his graying muzzle.

Terriermon danced on Jenrya’s head and giggled. “Hah! You guys are _stuck!_ ”

<TERRIERMON!> Jenrya snarled, louder this time. <Please! We’re all a little stressed out here!>

“I mean, he’s not wrong,” Shiuchon smirked, squatting down just slightly to get at eye level with her fur-covered brother. “I don’t know, you guys are all so _cute_ like this… I almost feel like I want to get out my little bonnets and—”

<OKAY! OKAY!> Rinchei shouted with something that sounded like true fear. He closed his eyes and let out a deep breath. <Okay. It’s fine. I’ll try it.>

Shiuchon clapped her hands. “Perfect! Lopmon?”

Lopmon rolled her eyes but glided down to the console table and pressed something on her partner’s phone. Suddenly, cheesy spa music started blasting from the room’s speakers.

<Seriously? This is not gonna help me-- >

“Relax!” Shiuchon cut in, her voice soothing. “Just relax.” Jenrya watched as his brother’s breathing began to slow and his once bristling fur flattened, just slightly. “Think about your fingers and toes. Think about the feeling of picking up something and squeezing it. Think about the feeling of the house slippers against your feet.” Rinchei continued to breath, tension seeming to melt away from his massive sides. “Now think about reaching up with your arms and stretching, lifting up your knees one at a time, you can only balance on one foot, after all…”

“Dang Jen, she’s good…” Terriermon murmured into Jenrya’s ear, conveniently situated on top of his head.

<Yeah…> he responded, directing the message to his partner only. Heck, he was even getting sleepy…

Shiuchon was continuing: “Good, good job Rinchei, now just let it all slide away, just slide out of your fur and—EWW! SERIOUSLY, RINCHEI!?”

Sitting in the middle of the carpet, Jenrya’s very human and unfortunately very naked brother looked down in horror.

<Rinchei!> their mother snapped, shielding her face with a giant paw. <For god sakes, put some clothes on!>

Janyuu shuffled up to his son and sniffed him with scientific curiosity. <Hmm, well done son. You still smell a bit like a bear. I wonder if-->

“Oh my god! DAD!” Rinchei shrieked, his face beet-red; one desperate hand covering himself, the naked 25 year old scrambled to his feet and sprinted into his bedroom before slamming the door with a loud ‘bang’.

With his mother shaking her big furry head in shame his father looking down the hallway in a daze, and Terriermon laughing uproariously, Jenrya decided this was the perfect time to excuse himself.

<So… yeah, I think I’m gonna go to my room too.>

\--

**Ruki**

“I’m home!” Ruki called, wincing as she shut the gate with a loud ‘screech’.

<Didn’t I tell you to oil that thing?> Ruki jumped as her grandmother’s voice rang through her mind as clear as day. It was going to take some time to get used to this whole “thought-speech” thing coming from anyone besides Renamon.

“Yeah, yeah, sorry!” she called back. She’d honestly meant to fix it that day—Renamon found the oil and everything— and it _was_ a bit unfair that her grandmother just so _happened_ to have super-hearing now.

Slipping off her shoes, she made her way into the kitchen and frowned at the cabinet. “Renamon?” The fox digimon appeared behind her and set a plastic shopping bag down on the counter. “What do you think: Bowl? Plate?”

Renamon gazed at the shelf thoughtfully. “I think perhaps a plate. A bowl may be too…”

Ruki grinned, imagining her grandmother sitting in front of a dog bowl full of kibble. “On the nose?” 

“Yes. Perhaps.” Renamon smiled, just slightly, before carefully reaching up to the top shelf. The platter she set down was absolutely beautiful, intricately decorated and almost certainly very expensive. “I must say, Ruki, this is all a bit unclear to me as well. Shall we make this as dignified as possible?”

Ruki nodded, firming her gaze. “Yeah. Good call.”

No longer hidden in the shopping bag, the raw flank steak looked anything but dignified despite their best efforts. Ruki let out a quick exhale and tried to send the bile back down her throat. In her mind’s eye, all she could see was Seiko lapping up the blood that was now pooling around the steak.

“It doesn’t… look appetizing to you?” Renamon asked cautiously, tilting her head in the Tamer’s direction.

Ruki made a dramatic gagging noise. “Umm, definitely not. I mean, I can logically see how it _could_ be appetizing if, you know…” she trailed off, suddenly quite uncomfortable.

Renamon frowned. “Yes. I understand. We can explore this at a different time, perhaps.” The digimon seemed completely unfazed as she lifted the platter, raw meat and all, and nodded towards the door. “Shall we?”

\--

Seiko was sprawled out on the backyard patio, soaking in the warm morning sun. When Ruki and Renamon slipped through the sliding door, she lifted her head lazily to look at them with piercing green eyes.

<Ah, you’re here. About time.>

For a moment Ruki just stood in the doorway, unsure of what to do. In Renamon’s paws, the raw steak felt like a beating heart. Down the steps, the large amber cat that was her grandmother was propped up on its forearms and stared at the steak with a predatory gaze.

<Well, come on already! Chop chop!>

Snapping to attention, Ruki gestured at Renamon who stepped down and placed the platter right in front of Seiko’s paws. “Please, enjoy...”

<THANK you, Renamon. You really need to teach your partner something about respecting her elders.> Seiko licked her chops and zeroed in on the steak, muscles tense in anticipation. <Now, some privacy please? A lady should never be observed as she enjoys her meal.>

\--

**Jenrya**

After several attempts and a variety of unhelpful comments from Terriermon to ‘stop making the pooping face’, Jenrya managed to shift back to human with only minutes to spare. All things considered, he probably should have just skipped school at that point—after all, he’d literally been a _bear_ for the entire morning—but as soon as he faceplanted on the floor in all of his naked human glory, autopilot kicked in.

By the time he tumbled into his first period class, Jenrya was uncomfortably sweaty. Once his breathing slowed and the teacher was in full-on lecture mode, he loosened his tie and looked around; besides the normal absences you’d expect during allergy season, everything seemed pretty much normal. There was certainly no sign that anyone else had woken up covered in fur.

Try as he might, Jenrya couldn’t get himself to focus. First period was English class, so that wasn’t too bad—living in Hong Kong, he’d learned English along with Japanese and Cantonese—but by the time third period History came around, Jenrya may as well have skipped school entirely.

During their midmorning break, he’d snuck a peak at the local and national news on his phone. As far as Japan was concerned, that day was just like any other: no sign of government officials turning into bears and attacking each other in parliament. There were students missing in all of his classes, and some seemed more dazed than normal, but who was he to judge? He was looking at a bunch of 17 and 18 year-olds, who _knew_ what they were up to?

At lunch, he skipped study group and instead headed towards the outdoor table in the upperclassman yard where Takato, Hirokazu and Kenta usually ate. Oddly enough, the only occupants were a couple of all-too-young looking freshmen who scattered when he approached. Jenrya frowned; one of the kids had left behind his half-eaten meal. _Am I really that scary?_

Ultimately, Jenrya spent the rest of the lunch hour sitting against a tree trunk in the woods behind the school, munching on his packed _gaifan_ and scrolling through his phone.

“I wonder who could eat more bread, Guilmon or bear-Takato?” Terriermon quipped, hanging upside down from branch over his partner’s head.

Jenrya blinked, still staring at his phone screen. “Honestly, I’m starting to wonder that too.” Takato had never been good at checking his texts, but today the lack of response had to mean something more, didn’t it? Kenta never used his phone at school, but Hirokazu practically lived in his. Nothing from them, or even Juri.

Terriermon dropped from the branch and landed heavily on his partner’s shoulders before hopping to the ground.

Jenrya yelped in surprise. “You have to _tell_ me when you’re gonna do that, remember?”

“Yeah, yeah, sorry.” Terriermon grabbed the chopsticks from Jenrya’s hand and took a huge mouthful of rice. “Did you hear anything from Ruki?”

“No… I didn’t want to bother her.”

“So you didn’t even try.” Terriermon shook his head in mock disappointment. “Is this what young love does? Just turns you into a spineless, useless—”

“Okay, okay, fine! I’ll text her. Whatever,” Jenrya grumbled, but not before he felt his cheeks grow hot. Seriously, he’d mentioned _one time_ that he thought Ruki was cute— _ONE TIME—_ and now Terriermon had the fodder to last him another decade of teasing at least.

Regardless of if this whole ‘bear thing’ happened to anyone else, Ruki was probably the right one to ask. She wouldn’t freak out like Takato, or start laughing like Hirokazu, or get all concerned like Juri, or get ridiculously anxious like he currently was… no, she’d probably just assess the situation and determine the next reasonable course of action. And then she’d tighten her cool ponytail and do that thing where rubs her nose when she’s thinking and maybe they’d go get dinner together or something. Yeah. That’d be cool.

When it came time to actually send the text, Jenrya just felt more awkward. How, after all, do you tell your crush that you woke up that morning as a bear… let alone ask her if she did too?

\--

**Ruki**

In typical Jenrya-fashion, the text was far better composed than it needed to be for such a simple ask. Seriously, did he really need to pad the question with ‘I hope you’ve had a good day so far’ and ‘I hope you have a good rest of your day’? Wasn’t that redundant? It annoyed Ruki at first, but now she just found it mildly adorable.

Still, the central message was there: he wanted to know if anything ‘weird’ happened to her. There were so many good responses—' _Not really, only that my grandma just devoured a raw steak with no hands and is now sleeping off the meal in a tree’;_ or maybe ‘ _No, perfectly normal, I always wake up with four paws and a tail.’_

As far as Ruki knew, only the Makino family was effected by… whatever this was. That had been made certain after getting the frantic mid-morning phone call from her mother, currently in Hokkaido for a modeling gig. Luckily, Seiko was more than happy to call the school about her granddaughter’s ‘terrible stomach bug’—(‘I always tell her, don’t trust takeout sushi’)— and give Ruki the day off.

Stepping between cat and human, it turned out, was pretty exhausting. She’d certainly gotten quicker, the cat side feeling less and less alien each time… heck, by now it was even starting to feel _normal_ , like a second skin. The ‘ick’ factor was certainly down, and she’d even managed to shift with her underwear a few times. Skin-tight clothing, at least, seemed to be doable.

Looking at Jenrya’s text, it made some bizarre sense that he’d also be effected. Probably Takato too, and maybe the others. They were Tamers after all—they’d already won the “weird” lottery once, so why not again?

Still considering the best snarky reply to Jenrya, Ruki jumped in surprise when Renamon appeared next to the futon. “Guilmon is here. Don’t worry, I made him wipe his feet.”

A minute later, the red dinosaur trotted into Ruki’s room and he wasn’t alone. The large bird clinging to his shoulder looked exceedingly nervous—even moreso than birds usually do—and was darting its eyes around. With dappled grey feathers and a hooked beak, it looked like some kind of hawk. Maybe an osprey. Ruki made a mental note to check her grandmother’s birdwatching books later.

“Hi Ruki! Hi Renamon!” Guilmon warbled. “Takato-bird— err, -mon, wants me to tell you this.” He scrunched his eyes, as if trying to remember: “Something strange happened to me today. Please don’t be scared. I cannot speak so I will say words in your mind.” The digimon whipped his snout towards the bird, who squawked and flapped its wings in surprise. “Go ahead, Takato-bird!”

<Umm, hey guys. So, don’t freak out, but– >

“We know you’re the bird, Takato,” Ruki cut in with a smirk. What an entrance—not that she’d expect anything less from _this_ dynamic duo. The hawk blinked and cocked its head.

<Err, yeah! I just kind of woke up like this. So did my parents. We don’t really know what happened, or if we’re stuck, or what. Why aren’t you freaking out?>

Ruki’s smirk grew and she glanced at Renamon; the digimon met her gaze with barely hidden humor. “Just a second.”

Before Takato could protest, she pulled her T-shirt over her head and slipped out of her running shorts. It wasn’t like he had long to look, anyway. The change was so easy now, like slipping through water; as she stepped to all fours, it was as if the cat had always been a part of her.

<AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!>

“BWAAAAAAAAGGGHHHH—”

<GUILMON, SHH! Ruki! Is that you!?>

Ruki twitched her nose and settled back on her haunches. <Yeah, duh. What, you thought you’re the only one that had a weird day?>

<But, but—we walked past _people_ on the way here. Normal people! Not lions or elephants or pigs or whatever!> Takato fluttered down from his perch on Guilmon and hopped over to Ruki, looking her up and down nervously. <You’re not going to, umm, eat me, are you?>

<HAH! You wish,> Ruki laughed, swishing her tail lightly against Takato’s side. He jumped back in alarm, then glared.

<How’d you do that thing anyway? Change between human and, umm, cat?>

<What, haven’t you…> Ruki’s eyes grew wide and she let out a snort. <Oh my _god_! Have you been stuck as a bird all day?>

Takato’s glare only grew. <Yes, for your information! And I’ll let you know I’m getting pretty stressed out about it too!>

<HAH! Oh my god this is too good, just let me–> She quickly shifted back to human and keeled over in laughter. It just wasn’t as _satisfying_ to make fun of someone as a cat. “And you _rode Guilmon here_? You didn’t even _try_ to fly!? You’re a _bird_ for gods sakes!”

“Ruki, please, Takato has clearly had a hard day,” Renamon hissed, looking apologetically at the increasingly agitated bird. Guilmon just kept whipping his head between his Tamer and Ruki, unsure of whether to laugh or get angry.

Finally calming down, Ruki wiped away a tear and shrugged back on her t-shirt and shorts. Being a cat was fine and all, but she was _not_ missing any more opportunities to laugh. Seeing Takato’s furious eyes and puffed-up feathers, however, she couldn’t help but feel a little bad.

“Hey, it’s really not that hard. You’ll be back to Takato-mon in no time,” Ruki said, crouching down and putting her hands forward as a peace offering. “For me, all I had to do was relax—like, actually relax—and it came easily.” Takato continued to glare, but slowly his feathered settled back down and his breathing slowed. “Okay, okay, good job. Now it’s kind of like—you know how you help Guilmon evolve? Or how you guys become Dukemon? It’s like that, you just have to _will_ it to happen and—”

“TAKATO-MON!” Guilmon tackled his suddenly-human partner like a cannonball, knocking them both to the floor.

Takato blinked in surprise and reached his arms up in awe. “What the… WHOA! HANDS!”

Ruki smirked and took a step back as the two rolled around gleefully. “Do you think they’re gonna notice anytime soon?”

At her side, Renamon’s eyes glinted. “No, I think not. Perhaps you should tell them.”

“Hey, Takato… what happened to your clothes?”

\--

**Jenrya**

In an effort to stay sane, Jenrya made Terriermon take his phone for the rest of the school day and through practice at the dojo. By the time he’d made it through the day’s _katas_ and finished up sparring, the sun was already going down.

The “25 new messages” on his phone were almost entirely from the family group chat—Jaarin, despite being back in Hong Kong for college, had also had quite the odd day— but one glorious message was from Ruki.

Terriermon squinted over his shoulder as Jenrya headed towards the bus stop, brow furrowed. “‘Yes, weird day. Talked to Takato. Meet us at park after practice,’” the digimon read. “Hah! I _knew_ it! Man, Ruki’s gonna be the biggest, meanest bear in the whole world.”

“Terriermon…”

“Hey! Come on, you know it’s true!”

“Yeah... maybe.” Jenrya squinted up at the bus route sign—he hadn’t put his glasses back on since practice ended—and glanced at his phone. “I guess we’ll find out soon enough. The A-line’s about to get here.”

\--

Over the years, Shinjuku park remained the unofficial meeting spot of the Tamers though they’d shifted from Guilmon’s old hut to a more wooded area towards the west side. Unlike the original spot, the woods after dark provided great protection against prying eyes and, therefore, the perfect location to train for future encounters with rogue digimon and generally let loose without ending up on the cover of a tabloid a few days later. Though they had protection from Hypnos and the government, being Tamers wasn’t something they liked to broadcast.

By the time Jenrya and Terriermon arrived, the sun was completely down. Ruki nodded when she saw him and ambled over from the tree stump where she’d been sitting . “Hey. Sorry to keep you hanging for so long today.”

“Umm, no problem,” Jenrya replied, already feeling his cheeks get warm. The crush had gotten _bad_ recently, probably due to Terriermon’s constant egging, and it didn’t help that Ruki attended the private girl’s school on the other side of town. Ultimately, this just meant that all his awful teenage hormones were free explode on the rare occasion he was actually within eyesight of the red-haired tamer.

If Ruki noticed, she didn’t let on. Guilmon trotted up to them from behind a few trees, clapping his paws together when he saw Terriermon. “Hi Terriermon! Is Jen a funny animal too?”

“Hah! You know it!” Terriermon grinned, tackling the dinosaur’s head.

Jenrya glanced at Ruki sheepishly. “Umm, yeah. So, about that weird thing…”

<WOOOHOOOOOOOO!! WATCH OUT!> A dark shape swooped over their heads in a rush of air before bracing its wings and landing somewhat ungracefully on a branch. <Hey, Jen! What’s up?>

Jenrya grinned, tension dissipating at the sight of his best friend covered in feathers. “Takato! I can’t believe you get to _fly!”_

Bird-Takato (was he a hawk?) ruffled excitedly. <Dude, it’s the _best!_ It’s like, better than ice cream or back rubs or-- >

“Guilmon bread?” the dinosaur chimed in, suddenly interested.

<Yeah, boy—even _Guilmon bread_. But not better than you. You’re still my number one.>

The dinosaur clapped excitedly. “Yeah yeah! Takato-bird-mon!”

<Jen! What are you?> Takato fluttered to a lower branch and scrutinized Jenrya with piercing hawk eyes. <Let’s guess! I’m gonna say… uh… a terrier?>

Jenrya smirked. No one was gonna get this. “Not a dog—try again.”

“Bunny?” Guilmon asked, cocking his head. “Like Terriermon?”

“I’m NOT a bunny, you idiot!”

“Nope. Try again.”

<Uh, you can’t fly so not a bird… maybe, like, oh geez, a moose or something?>

“Not even close!”

“Bear.” Jenrya jumped, having almost forgotten Ruki was there. “You’re a bear. Right?”

Blushing hard, Jenrya rubbed his head. “Umm… yeah, actually. A brown bear.”

<Ahh, so _cool!_ Like Saint Galgomon–>

“We’re a _dog_ , doofus!”

“Terriermon!” Jenrya hissed, glaring at his partner. “You’re right though, Saint Galgomon _is_ a dog…”

“What about Ruki?” The group turned towards Guilmon, who cocked his head at Jenrya. “Jen can guess Ruki’s animal—I already know the answer but I won’t tell!”

<Hah! Yeah, go ahead Jen!>

Ruki glared at Takato and his partner. “Hey! I am not some object to be scrutinized!” Seeing Jenrya staring, she quickly shifted her gaze down.

Jenrya was quick to follow: the ground suddenly seemed _so interesting_. “Oh, umm, I don’t know…”

Terriermon looked at his partner, then at Ruki, then at his partner again. “I mean… she’s clearly a cat or something? Was that not obvious to everyone else? Like, she’s cool but also _super mean—”_

“HEY!” Ruki snapped, still blushing. “But, uh, yeah. Some kind of big wild cat.” She shifted her eyes across the group. “My grandma and mom as well.”

<Yep, also my parents. We couldn’t even open the bakery today.>

“Seems to have gotten the Lee family too,” Jenrya added, shuddering at the memory of that morning. “Turns out our apartment isn’t quite big enough for five bears...”

“And the worst part is, we all had to see Rinchei’s _butt_!” Terriermon chimed in.

“Yep. And my dad basically short circuited trying to wrap his head around everything.” Jenrya pulled out his phone, suddenly remembering something from the family group chat. “By the way, my dad said ‘don’t let anyone get your blood’. I guess my mom tested his blood sample and there was bear DNA in it…

“Freaky…” Ruki muttered. “Somehow meeting Renamon and biomerging and saving the world and everything seemed less weird than _this_.”

It’d been bothering Jenrya too. “I mean, we were kids then… I guess ten-year-old’s have a greater suspension of disbelief?”

<It’s cause this isn’t about _digimon_ ,> Takato remarked from his branch. <This is the real world—flesh and blood and _DNA_.> He unfurled a wing and gazed at it oddly. <This is my actual body: It’s not data. No gift from the sovereigns needed.>

“And yet, as far as we know, the only people with this _thing_ are Tamers and their families,” Ruki added with a thoughtful look. “I’m willing to bet that Hirokazu and Kenta and Juri all have it too.”

<Yep. I talked to Juri when I got home earlier—turns out she tried to call me a bunch of times while I was, uh, a bird. They all got it, except her step mom.>

_Not Juri’s step mom…_ This was actually kind of interesting. “It must be genetic, then. Passed on through the family line… maybe some primordial gene that was suddenly reactivated?

Renamon shifted out of the shadows behind her partner. “Would that not mean only one of your parents was effected rather than two? I am not sure about Takato, but Jenrya’s mother and father are certainly from different genetic populations.”

Jenrya frowned—when did Renamon suddenly becoming the expert on human biology? She had a point, though. If this whole animal-thing was genetic, how likely was it that both parents in a multiracial family carried the same strange gene, let alone for the same animal, when everyone around them seemed unaffected?

“This makes my brain hurt,” Guilmon mumbled, shaking his head from side to side. “And my tummy… Takato-bird-mon, do you have any bread?”

Takato glanced towards Jenrya’s phone screen, then back at Guilmon. <Yeah, shoot. It’s getting late and I told my parents I’d help get ready for tomorrow. We have to make up for all of today’s orders plus the normal rush.>

“They’re not taking a break after spending the whole day as a bunch of bird-brains?”

Takato cocked his head towards Terriermon. <Nope— too much bread to sell! I’ll see you guys later, okay? Let’s keep this whole thing on the down-low.>

And with that, Jenrya’s best friend-turned hawk flapped his wings and took off into the night sky, Guilmon racing after him on the ground. Suddenly obtusely aware of Ruki standing next to him, he couldn’t help but wish he could fly away too.

“I can’t believe you actually went to school today. Have you tried it at all?”

Jenrya shuffled his feet. “Tried it…”

Ruki turned towards him, her eyes unreadable in the dark. “You know, human to bear to human to bear… and so on.” She seemed to notice Jenrya’s growing discomfort and grinned. “I knew it—you haven’t! Of course you’d be the one. Are you scared?”

“Hey…”

Ruki clasped her hands together and laughed—a real, true laugh, no teasing involved. “No, no, it’s not a bad thing! I mean, Takato literally couldn’t figure out how to shift back to human in the first place. He actually _rode Guilmon_ over to my house to ask for help.”

At the thought of a very confused Takato hitching a ride on his partner, Jenrya couldn’t help but smile. “Oh my god, did he not fly?”

“Nope! He didn’t even try to,” Ruki snorted. “If I woke up with wings, the first thing I’d do is jump out a window.”

Jenrya gazed longingly at the night sky, so open and empty and enticing… “Yeah. Me too.”

The red-headed Tamer sighed dramatically. “Oh well. Being a cat is pretty cool too. Here, watch this.”

And then Ruki was kicking off her sneakers and socks, and slipping out of her shorts, and pulling her sweatshirt up and over and—

_Oh my god._ Jenrya turned away sharply and covered his face with both hands. “ _Ruki!_ ”

“It’s fine! Come on, you can look. It’s only weird if you make it weird.”

Reluctantly, he lowered his hands and turned back. How was this even _fair?_ Are you even _allowed_ to look at your crush naked? It just felt so horrible and voyeuristic and _oh thank god she left her underwear on_.

_Just look at her face, who cares if she’s in her underwear, she’s not an object, she’s your friend, she trusts you, you have a crush on her personality anyway_ … Jenrya bit his lip and shifted his gaze to the nearest tree branch. Her personality was great, but it didn’t help that she was _really attractive_ too…

“Okay, now you’re making it weird. Please look, Jen, I want to show you that you shouldn’t be afraid!”

_She never calls me Jen…_

Hesitantly, Jenyra looked back at her face and tried not to let his eyes travel down _._ Ruki caught his eye and kept it there, that uncharacteristic softness creeping in again. She wrapped her arms around her and rubbed slightly, warding off goose pimples. “Took you long enough—I was getting cold! Now watch this.”

Ruki fell onto four paws like water. Whatever Jenrya had expected, it wasn’t this—the cat seemed to flow out of her as if it had been with her all along, some hidden piece just waiting to be free. And of _course_ she was an incredibly cool-looking animal. Ruki the cat was beautiful, but not in the same way that Ruki the human was beautiful— she was beautiful like a sunset, or a mountain, or a forest.

The cat sat back and wrapped its tail around all four paws. <Pretty neat, huh?> Jenrya could only nod dumbly. Ruki was certainly not a _house cat_ —she was clearly a wild animal, about the size of a golden retriever with thick, rusty-red fur and a faint leopard pattern running down her flank like splattered paint. Her tail was fluffy—it actually looked pretty soft—but then again, those claws also looked _exceedingly_ sharp.

“Uhh, yeah,” he eventually got out. “Pretty neat.”

Ruki cocked her head at Jenrya, cat eyes impenetrable, then whipped around in a flash of fur and disappeared into the shadows. He blinked, suddenly alone in the clearing. “Ruki?”

<Up here.>

Her thought-speech came from high above his head. Even with his glasses now on, Jenrya could barely make out the cat-shaped shadow resting in the highest branches of the cedar tree until Ruki’s reflective eyes caught the moonlight.

<You know, I can see you perfectly well; cat eyesight really is amazing. Can’t help but think you seem a little lonely all by yourself.>

Jenrya already didn’t like where this was headed. “I’M OKAY, ACTUALLY,” he shouted back up.

<Hey, no need to shout; cat hearing is pretty amazing too.> The shadow in the tree shifted its weight. <Fine, you’re not lonely. But I have to say, _I’m_ getting a bit lonely way up here…>

“I’M NOT GOIN—I’m not going to climb that tree, if that’s what you’re implying.” Jenrya crossed his arms. No way. Hell, Ruki probably shouldn’t even be up there; who _knows_ what would happen if she slipped or, oh god, _fell_ …

The cat came to standing and started to pace, back and forth along the branch. Jenrya felt his stomach drop. Did she have to get _so close_ to the edge? <Look, Jen, I get it. You’re risk adverse. You wouldn’t even go rafting with us last summer, and there were literal _five year olds_ who went rafting.> Somehow she must have seen his discomfort—cat eyes, after all— and she continued quickly. <But being risk-adverse isn’t a bad thing! That’s why we need you so much. I mean, two days later you were the one fighting off those Death Meramon in Shibuya when the rest of us were too sunburned to get out of bed.>

Jenrya couldn’t help but grin at that one. _Never underestimate the power of sunscreen._

<Hah! I see you smiling! I see everything, remember? Come on, join me Jen. We both know bears can climb.>

After a pause, he let out a sharp exhale. _It’s okay. I can do this. It’s totally fine, Takato did just fine, Ruki is doing just fine, I’m not going to get stuck, I’m not going to go on a rampage, I’m not going to fall. I’ll be fine._ “Yeah, okay. Umm… what do I do, exactly?”

<Strip, I guess? Unless you want to ruin your clothes…>

Ah, yes. Great. Strip. In front of his crush. Who had super vision.

<Here, I’ll even, uh…> There was a rustle in the trees, and Ruki’s human voice called down: “I CAN’T SEE ANYTHING NOW. DON’T WORRY.”

Jenrya looked down at himself and frowned. “What about, umm, underwear…”

There was a pause, then: “IF YOU SAID SOMETHING, YOU’RE GONNA HAVE TO SPEAK UP.”

“UNDERWEAR!?” Jenrya shouted up at the tree, wincing immediately at having to shout the word ‘underwear’ at the top of his lungs.

“AH, UH…” Another rustle. <Unless you’re wearing spandex or something, probably not. I could make it work with skintight stuff, but even that took some practice.> Another rustle. “OK, YOU’RE GOOD!”

For the first time in his life, Jenrya wished that Terriermon was there to make it awkward. Even that would be better than… whatever _this_ was. Where was that stupid rabbit, anyway? _Probably hiding in some tree laughing…_

“I’M GETTING COLD UP HERE!”

_Okay, Jen. This is fine._ Before he could think about it a second longer, Jenrya quickly pulled off his hoodie and t-shirt, still damp from practice. The sweats came next, but of course they got stuck on his shoes, so he hopped around with his pants around his ankles, cursing to himself as he kicked off his runners, before ending up barefoot in all his horribly uncomfortable and un-clothed glory. The glasses were the last to go—he folded them carefully and set them on top of his backpack.

As the world turned blurry, his mind went blank to the task at hand. What was he supposed to _do_?

“UMM… RUKI?”

Her response of “FIGURE IT OUT” left no room for ambiguity, and Jenrya sighed. He didn’t even _want_ to do this, anyway. He was perfectly happy being a person. This was his body and his skin and bones and he didn’t want them reorganizing themselves into some other form. Merging with Terriermon was different, that was _normal_ , this was just… too weird.

_Okay. Bear. Four-legged._ He crouched down and, after a moment of hesitation, let his hands sink into the peat moss. It smelled nice, the woods; fresh and welcoming and familiar. He let his toes dig into the soil and find a firm grip, fingers and palms finding all possible points of contact with the ground. The air against his back was cold, but it didn’t really bother him. Instead, he felt like he had heat radiating from his core: a burning furnace that kept him warm and cozy against wind. And the wind _smelled_ nice—it carried the scent of the trees, and of a human high above, and of earthworms and car exhaust and the faint aroma of cherry blossom trees about to bloom.

Jenrya twitched his nose: one of the scents had shifted, the human was gone—in its place, the musty tang of a cat. _Seriously? She said she wasn’t going to watch..._

<Well, come on!>

He huffed in annoyance, ready to tell her off. “GRRRARRA—”

_–what was THAT!?_

<Oh my god, you’re just like Takato! Did you not realize you’re covered in fur?>

Ah. Fur. Suddenly, Jenrya became aware of his body again—his massive paws, his thick coat, the exceptional amount of space he took up… and it felt weirdly normal. He seemed to know how to work this body—or at least, the body knew. Thinking back to that morning, now so long ago, he’d been afraid and confused and _fighting_ it, but now…

He chose this. He did this. And the tree didn’t look all that daunting anymore.

The bear moved swiftly, far faster than seemed reasonable for a big, ambling animal, and gripped the thick trunk with its arms. Jenrya’s body pulled itself up the tree as if it was running across grass. The bear’s paws— _his_ paws—danced between the trunk and its branches like a kid on a jungle gym. And it was _fun_! No, not just fun: climbing was _exhilarating_.

<HAH! This is great!> he called out to Ruki in thought-speak, which came as easily as it had that morning.

<I _told_ you!> Ruki slunk down a few branches, coming level with him. <I thought you’d get it. Who knew trees could be so exciting?>

Jenrya scrambled the rest of the way onto Ruki’s branch, leaning back against the trunk. Even as the wood groaned under his massive weight, he knew intuitively that it wouldn’t break. <Yeah. Geez. Why did I waste a whole day at school when I could have been doing _this_?>

At Ruki’s lack of response, Jenrya turned to her; she was gazing off into the distance, clearly lost in thought. He started to say something, then thought better of it. In the silence, the sounds of the night flooded over them; Jenrya heard animals scurrying and car horns off in the distance, the sound of the wind brushing through Ruki’s fur, of her tail tapping softly against the branch. He knew that she, too, was taking it all in: this hidden nighttime world that was suddenly their domain.

Eventually, Ruki was the one to break the silence. <Thanks for, umm… trusting me, I guess.>

Jenrya cocked his head. <Thank _you_ for putting up with me. I guess I can kind of be a baby sometimes.>

<HAH! No way, Takato’s definitely the baby. You’re more like… the responsible, stick in the mud dad who sometimes cares a little _too_ much about his kids.>

He considered it. <Does that make Hirokazu and Kenta the annoying kids next door who always mooch food?>

<Oh yeah, definitely. Ryo’s probably the cool uncle who’s actually a bad influence– oh crap, has anyone reached out to Ryo yet?>

(No one had.)

Jenrya turned to her. <So what does that make you?>

Ruki stared him straight in the eyes, her feline face unreasonably serious. <I’m the breadwinning mom who makes sure the family doesn’t fall apart.>

In the blink of an eye, she darted down the tree and into the night, leaving only rustling leaves and the faint smell of cat as any indication she’d ever been there. For a moment, Jenrya just sat in baffled silence. That is, until something crashed down onto his head. Jenrya yelped and scrambled regain his balance.

“Oh. My. GOD. _STICK IN THE MUD!?_ HAH!”

<Oh great, _now_ you decide to show up…>

Terriermon hopped down next to Jenrya looking like he’d just won the lottery. “Oh please Jen, you were handling it just fine.”

<Seriously!? That was potentially the most awkward experience of my life!>

“No way! Nothing is worse than Rinchei’s butt.”

Jenrya groaned. <Did you see all of that?>

“Of _course_ I did; how could I miss out on so many goldmines?” Terriermon did a little spin. “I have enough fodder now to last _years_. I mean, you screaming about underwear at the top of your lungs? Classic!”

<Oh my god…> Jenrya shuddered, before gripping the trunk with all four paws and starting his descent. Terriermon hopped on his back, wrapping his long ears around Jenrya’s massive neck. <The worst part is, I don’t even know what to make of all that! Like, was she… flirting with me? Helping me out as a friend? Teasing me? Taking notes so she could tease me _later?_ >

“Beats me. Humans are weird. You reach a certain age and suddenly all you want to do is smash your bodies together. If I didn’t know better, I’d say you were just trying to download each other’s data.” 

Closing in on the ground, Jenrya released his grip and landed with a soft ‘thump’. Terriermon hopped onto his partner’s head and peered down. “Can we go home now? I told your mom I’d clean up the GameCube stuff like a week ago and now that she’s a bear, I’m seriously worried she’s gonna eat me.”

<Yeah.> Jenrya glanced at his discarded clothes and shuddered involuntarily. <I guess I have to figure out how to turn back again.>

And then they would just go home and it would all be fine and—

_Oh my god._ He hadn’t seen his family all day, not since that morning. Suddenly, the fun novelty of him and his friends getting a cool superpower vanished into thin air: made completely _un-_ cool by the fact that his siblings and his mom and, oh god, his _DAD_ were also knee deep in all of it.

It was really only going to get more awkward from here.


	2. I am angry. Grrr.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now that the shock has worn off, the Tamers try to get used to their "new normal".

_From the report of Andrey Rabinovich_

_April 1, 20XX_

_Dearest Oleg,_

_Just as we feared, a snowstorm has hit the camp. Though the excavation spot is less than two miles north, progress is impossible until conditions improve._

_The tent is pelted with snow and torn at by the wind at all times; worse than the cold, even, is the onslaught of noise from which there is no reprieve. I have taken to playing cards with the son, Ryo, in my boredom; Dr. Akiyama, however, pours over his notes and equipment more fervently than ever._

_Last night, something very odd happened. I swore I heard voices, right outside my tent; at first I thought it was just the wind, but the more I listened the more sure I was. Two voices, conversing. It lasted only a few minutes, but just as I was drifting off to sleep again I swear I saw a massive shadow looming outside my tent: a clawed, dragon-like figure with raggedy wings. Perhaps this storm is getting to me._

_My love for you cuts through this bitter cold like a furnace._

_Andrey_

**_\---_ **

**Chapter Two:**

**"I am angry. Grrr."**

**Takato**

Despite the early hour, the Matsuda bakery was already bustling with activity in preparation for the Sunday morning rush. After the Shinjuku Post featured the bakery in its “Around Town” column a few months ago, business had been higher than ever—higher, it turned out, than the Matsuda family could handle on their own (especially with a son who not only moonlighted as a Tamer but also had to study for college entrance exams that year.)

Only a few weeks into the new year, the family picked up their first ever non-Matsuda employee: Masahiko Katou, Juri’s little brother. Masahiko was a scrawny kid, far more shy than his sister and always jumping with nervous energy. Since the Katou children helped run the family restaurant most nights of the week, Masahiko was able to backfill in the mornings and on Sundays. That the kid was familiar with Guilmon and the rest of the digimon menagerie was just an added bonus.

Guilmon, however, had got it in his head recently that Masahiko was replacing his role in the bakery. Over the years, Takato’s mother entertained Guilmon with a variety of tasks to “help out” with; important things like kneading the dough (that fell on the floor), stacking mixing bowls (don’t let them fall!), taste-testing new recipes, and of course “getting rid of” stale bread.

That morning, the red dinosaur was sulking in a corner as Masahiko filled sweet red bean buns as quickly as he could and Takato rushed through another load of dishes. In the front, his mother Yoshie worked the register while simultaneously writing down orders with one hand and shooing away a stray cat with the other.

“Where’s your father,” she hissed at Takato as he placed the most recent set of orders down next to her?

“Beat’s me, but he’d better be back soon ‘cause we’re drowning,” Takato replied, already racing back through the kitchen door to grab the batch of savory rolls before they burned.

As soon as he set them down on the counter, however, he spun around into a face full of Guilmon. “Can I help?”

Takato glanced at the kitchen timer—another 30 seconds before the second batch came out, thank god, and quickly lowered down next to his partner. “Hey boy, we’re just _really_ busy right now. How about you go upstairs and think about a fun game for us to play later? Or, you can build a fort out of all that cardboard around the side of the house. Wouldn’t that be cool? Then we can go sit in it and watch more Young Justice when I’m done!”

Guilmon glared, clearly not convinced. “But Masahiko gets to help! Why don’t you go make him build a fort?”

“Ah, buddy…” Takato glanced at the scrawny preteen, who was currently balancing eight trays loaded with bread and sweating profusely. “Masahiko does all of the boring stuff. You’d be wasted doing what he does! I mean, could Masahiko have invented a bread helmet?”

Guilmon considered this, then grinned. “Yeah, no way! I don’t do boring stuff! Maybe I will make bread armor next…” The dinosaur trotted away towards the stairs leading to the family apartment and slipped through the door. A few seconds later, they heard his voice call out: “Hi, Dad-Bird-Mon!”

Masahiko glanced in Takato’s direction, then back towards the door. “What’s a bread helmet?”

Takato carefully opened the oven door, wincing at the blast of hot air. “Think Guilmon sticks his head in a loaf of bread… but stupider, somehow.”

Suddenly, Takato’s father Takehiro burst out of the stairwell and skidded to a stop. “S.O.S., emergency— I did a quick flyover and Mrs. Itou is on the 28C bus and approaching fast. I’d say we have five minutes, _tops_.” He glanced up at Masahiko, who looked horrified. “How much longer on that milk bread?”

“Umm, shoot, at least a half hour… oh my god, Mr. Matsuda, I’m so _sorry_ —”

“Hey, don’t worry about it kid!” Takehiro snapped up to attention with a grin. “Takato, tell Mom to get ready—we’re giving out samples.”

Takato smiled sadly at the younger boy as his father rushed on an apron and got to work. He remembered countless times when he’d been in that exact position. “Seriously, it’s fine. It’s not your fault Itou orders twenty loaves and, oh yeah, is _totally insane._ ”

“Yeah, I guess,” Masahiko replied quietly, staring towards the front of the store with balled fists.

With a sigh, Takato headed towards the register with a tray of small-cut pastry samples. _If he thinks this is bad, just wait ‘til a bunch of Americans wander in looking for an ‘authentic Japanese experience’…_

As the morning shifted towards afternoon, Takato’s father pulled him to the side. “Hey. You’re on bird duty next—head out after this batch is done.” Takato nodded, frowning as he followed Takehiro’s gaze towards their very stressed employee. “He hasn’t told you what he is yet?”

He shook his head. “Juri won’t tell me either. I just don’t feel right pressing the issue...”

“Pity.” The older man turned towards the endless stream of people making their way through the front of the store. “We could use another scout. Or maybe a big dog for crowd control.”

Takato sighed. That _would_ be nice. But given that Juri still hadn’t told him after almost a month, he was running out of guesses. As much as he wanted to share this experience with her—and he _did_ want to, very badly—it was her choice.

Still, Kenta had literally been raiding trash bins recently. Could it really be worse than _that?_

\--

**Jenrya**

<WHAT ABOUT NOW?>

“Oww, yes Dad, we hear you on the 14th floor too. Do we really have to go down one by one?”

<YES, ABSOLUTELY. WE’RE COLLECTING DATA HERE.>

Jenrya grabbed the walkie-talkie from Shiuchon and jammed his thumb on the button. “Dad, you _have_ to stop shouting. You’re just giving us headaches.”

Shiuchon glared at him and snatched the device back. “Hey! I get the walkie-talkie, _you_ write down the numbers, remember?”

<ARE YOU SUR—ah, sorry—are you sure there isn’t a difference if I shout?>

“Yep. We were sure the first 10 floors too,” Shiuchon said, nodding at Terriermon who slapped an ear against the elevator button for the next floor down.

By the time they reached the lobby of the apartment building, Jenrya was really wishing he hadn’t joked about headaches. Shiuchon wasn’t looking better. “I can’t believe we just spent two hours riding an elevator,” she muttered, rubbing her forehead.

Lopmon gently swatted her partner’s hand away with an ear. “Shiuchon! Please don’t rub like that, you’re going to get pimples. I packed some aspirin in your bag.”

“Ugh, you’re worse than _Mom_ ,” Shiuchon groaned. “I need a nap.”

<ARE YOU OUTSIDE YET?>

The siblings yelped and Jenrya grabbed the walkie-talkie again. “No, Dad, why would we be outside? We’re coming back up. And _PLEASE_ be quieter!”

There was a pause.

<WHY WOUld you come back up? We haven’t found the thought-speak range yet.>

“Tell him we have homework or something!” Shiuchon hissed, clearly getting nervous.

<I HEARD THAT! IT’S THE WEEkend and I know you both worked yesterday. This won’t take more than another 20 minutes _._ >

It was at that exact moment, of course, that both of their D-Arks started to beep, signaling a bio-emergence. Terriermon made a little whooping noise and jumped onto Jenrya’s shoulder. “YES! _Finally_ we get to do something fun around here!” He stuck his nose at the walkie-talkie. “See ya later, suckers! Come on Jen, let’s go!”

Jenrya was all too happy to comply until Shiuchon grabbed onto his wrist with fire in her eyes. “No WAY. You are _not_ leaving me here to finish Dad’s stupid experiment! How about YOU stay and WE go instead!?”

Terriermon stuck his tongue out at the younger Tamer and her partner. “No way, you’re way too important for Janyu. Afterall—” he snatched the device from Jenrya’s hands and tossed it at Shiuchon, who caught it in surprise—“ _you’re_ the one in charge of the walkie-talkie!” He tugged at Jenrya’s hair harshly and hissed: _“Go go go go go!”_

Jenrya didn’t need to hear another word. Two seconds later, the two were out the door and sprinting in the direction of the D-Ark’s blinking light

\--

The bio-emergence pointed them east; after a few minutes of running, a Hypnos tech messaged Jenrya through the encrypted app on his phone with an update: apparently, a dozen Betamon had appeared at the docks in Odaiba and were attacking some shipping containers. With both Jenrya and Terriermon equally unenthused at the idea of taking the train— it was, they decided, far too close to an elevator box—they took the next best option.

Two minutes later, a very windswept Jenrya stumbled out of Rapidmon’s arms onto the dock, groaning. “Remember what I said about going slower next time?”

“Oh, you’re no fun Jen.” The massive creature landed next to him. Jenrya winced as the ground shook, willing the tower of storage containers in front of them not to fall over. “It’s just some Betamon, right? I’m gonna get smaller, don’t want to scare them…” In a quick flash of light, Terriermon appeared next to him. “Where are these suckers anyway?”

“Beats me…” Jenrya glanced around. For a place where a bunch of digimon were apparently attacking some shipping crates, it was weirdly quiet and the digital fog had already started to dissipate. Terriermon insisted he didn’t see them from the air either; honestly, they were going fast enough that Jenrya probably wouldn’t have noticed even if the entire dock was on fire.

Still, searching for some confused Child-levels was a million times better than helping with Janyuu’s ‘experiment’, and the two were in good spirits as they searched through the maze of freight. Eventually, they found a low box to sit on and stopped for a break.

Noticing Jenrya frowning at his digivice, Terriermon hopped over. “Is your D-Ark broken or what? Why won’t it tell us where the Betamon are?”

“It just says they’re here. Not very helpful.” Next to his smartphone, the thing looked almost antiquated. Sure, it had some new programs installed; a communicator, an analog clock, Tetris… the most significant was probably Janyuu’s newest invention, though. The Box Cutter allowed them to create rips into the Digital World, just big enough to send off a few Wild Ones and call it a day.

Suddenly, Terriermon perked up. “Hold on, I hear something…” He shuffled in a circle, one way then the other, ears held up like helicopter blades. “Yep. There’s a digimon nearby.”

“About time…”

Sure enough, a small Betamon was cowering just around the corner. When they came into view, its eyes widened and it took a step back. Jenrya crouched down, showing his hands in an ‘I mean no harm’ gesture. “Hey, buddy. What are you doing here? Are you lost?”

The digimon glanced nervously up at the shipping container behind them, then at Terriermon. The rabbit glared back. “What’re you lookin’ at?”

“Ah, Terriermon…” Jenrya turned back to the Betamon. Its orange fin was shaking. “Please don’t be scared. Are you here with anyone else? We just want to help you get home—”

“ELECTRIC SHOT!”

The fright next to Terriermon exploded into bits of metal and glass. Jenrya jumped at the Betamon, shielding it with his body until the dust settled. _“Dammit._ Terriermon!”

“Yeah, yeah, on it.” Terriermon leapt into the air and spat out a series of green fireballs at the new Betamon which had appeared behind them. “Blazing Fire!”

The Betamon tumbled to the side, but in an instant two more scrambled besides it, and then two more, and then more and more

“Mama!” The little digimon squealed, wiggling out from under Jenrya and running to the back of the group.

He breathed a sigh of relief—the little guy was back with his family. He stood up and took a step towards the digimon, palms up. “Okay, nice to meet you guys. I’m Jenrya and this is Terriermon. How about we help you all get home?”

The Betamon glanced at each other. The big one at the front, who must have been their leader, narrowed his big red eyes. What happened next flashed by in an instant— the ground exploded with a bang and broken wood flew everywhere, Terriermon cursed loudly, Jenrya landed hard on the ground, his D-Ark flew to the side and skittered across the dock before falling through a crack and, to his horror, disappearing into the water below them.

“JEN! COME ON, EVOLVE ME!”

“Be quiet!” a Betamon hissed— as the dust settled, Jenrya saw that his partner was pinned to the dock by half a dozen digimon.

“Dammit, uh, give me a second…” He racked his brain for _some_ way to retrieve the lost digivice and came up blank. _Diplomacy it is…_

“Hey! Let’s all calm down, okay?” Jenrya shouted in the most authoritative voice he could muster.

“HAH! Jen, you sound like you swallowed a fish!”

_What does that even…_ “Oh, shut it, Terriermon!” He glared at the lead Betamon. “Could you please let go of my partner? We really don’t want to fight!”

The Betamon took a menacing step forward— well, as menacing as you can get when you’re a very large, very sharp frog. “Don’t lie to me. We know what you’re here for, and you’re not going to get a single one of us. I won’t let it happen again.” Its eyes glinted, and the rest of the group stepped forward as well. “BETA SLUGGER!”

In that moment Jenrya acted on complete instinct, swatting at the incoming fin so it veered to the side and tore into a shipping crate. Before he could even get his bearings, two more attacks shot towards him:

“BETA SLUGGER!”

“CUTTER FIN!”

The first one he managed to swipe away, but he cried out in pain as the second attack sliced down his flank. Suddenly furious, he lunged back at the group and let out an earsplitting roar:

“RAHHHHHHHHHGHHHHHH!”

The Betamon shrieked and scrambled backward, tumbling over each other. In the confusion, Terriermon burst free with a triumphant ‘hah!’ and glided to Jenrya’s side. “How do you like it now, suckers?”

After some resistance, the leader Betamon finally let himself be shoved forward. Rather than look at them, he turned his gaze to the ground. “Ah, yes, umm… my apologies, Mister Grizzmon sir, we didn’t realize it was you…”

_Grizzmon…_ Jenrya grunted in confusion and looked down. Ah. Yep, those were paws.

Terriermon caught on quicker. “Umm… yes! And you should be sorry! Right, Mister Grizzmon?” He glared at Jenrya expectantly.

<Uhh, yep! That’s me! Grizzmon?>

The lead Betamon frowned. “Mister Grizzmon, you sound different…”

<Ah, yes, well, you know. Allergies and all that.> Jenrya tried to clear his throat but it came out as more of a gargle.

Seeing the Betamon’s frown only grow deeper, Terriermon hopped forward so they were face to face. “Would you really dare speak to the great Mister Grizzmon in such a way? He should have your heads for this.” Another pointed glance at Jenrya.

<Uh… yes! I am angry. Grrrrr.> After a moment, he added in a real “GRRRRR” for emphasis.

Seeing the Betamon cower back again, Terriermon continued on. “Well, I’m sure all would be forgiven if you would allow us to send you back to the Digital World. How does that sound? You all go home and Mister Grizzmon doesn’t eat you and all that.”

Jenrya growled again to hammer the point home. He was starting to like this. That is, until he remembered one small issue. _Shoot._

<Terriermon,> he hissed, directing the thought-speech at his partner only, <my digivice fell into the water! We need to get it to open the stupid portal!>

Terriermon twitched, almost imperceptibly, then pointed at a Betamon off to the side. “You there! We have a job for you.”

Twenty minutes later, the D-Ark was back on dry land and Terriermon finished patching up the digital rip, Betamon safely home. Jenrya, who had been on ‘Mister Grizzmon’ duty the whole time, let out a sigh of relief and fell back onto his haunches. <Well, that was new…>

“I’m kinda liking this whole good cop-bad cop thing we’ve got going,” Terriermon said, waddling over on his stumpy legs. He slapped the digivice down in front of Jenrya. “Still can’t believe you’re the bad cop, though. Shall we get going?”

<Yep.> Jenrya shifted back to human, the wet dock suddenly cold underneath his bare feet. _Bare feet…_

He looked around at the tattered remains of his clothes scattered across the ground. “Oh my god…”

It took him a second, but when Terriermon realized what’d happened he burst into laughter. “HAH! You are _SO_ in for it now!”

“I really liked that shirt…” Jenrya sadly picked through the scraps of cloth for his glasses; _they_ were okay, at least. “Looks like we’re taking the Rapidmon express again.”

\--

**Ruki**

Unlike her younger self, Ruki didn’t actually hate shopping. Around the time when they all became Tamers, she didn’t have a great relationship with her mother. It made sense—she was young and angry, and her mom was still figuring out how to raise a kid, and they both could have tried harder to actually communicate. What it came down to was that her mom _liked_ shopping, therefore she _didn’t like_ shopping.

Juri, however, did like shopping, and she also happened to be Ruki’s best friend. Somehow, this meant that she was now Juri’s de-facto shopping buddy.

“Oh wow, that looks really good!”

Juri frowned at herself in the mirror and did a half turn. “Ah, I dunno… you don’t think it’s too cutesy?”

Ruki raised an eyebrow. “I mean, sure, if _I_ were wearing it maybe. But Juri, you _like cutesy stuff_. If you like it, it’s not too cutesy.”

The outfit in question, a light blue dress with tiny yellow and white flowers, was definitely cute. It had puffy sleeves, a bow in the back, buttons… pretty much everything Ruki wouldn’t be caught dead in. So of course on Juri it looked amazing. Though she eventually got her friend to admit the dress was adorable, they still left the store empty-handed. Hypnos paid pretty well for an after-school job, but they were still high school students on high school student budgets.

Juri and Ruki were both quite stingy, in fact; Juri because her family owned a restaurant and had struggled over the years, and Ruki because it was apparently just in her nature. ‘Stingy to a fault’, Renamon said; a few months back, Juri and Takato even dragged her to a store and forced her to buy new shoes. Her old ones had holes in the bottoms and every time it rained her feet got soggy. In her defense, she did really like them.

All in all, this just meant that when Ruki and Juri went ‘shopping’, it was really more of ‘window shopping’: something to do while they hung out.

They opted to walk home instead of take the train; cherry blossoms had just started blooming, after all, and their sweet aroma filled the air.

Once they reached the quiet neighborhood streets, Juri peaked into her bag. “Culumon’s still sleeping, can you believe it?” Sure enough, the little white digimon was snoring peacefully in between the folds of her scarf. “I swear he’s been up to something at night; he always comes home hyper and covered in mud but won’t tell me what he’s working on. As soon as I give him a bath, he falls right asleep…”

“Huh. Maybe he’s digging a hole or something. I really liked doing that when I was five.”

“Yeah, maybe…” Juri stopped walking and looked out over the river. In the water below, pink petals drifted by like fallen snow. “I guess I could give him a shovel to play with—or at least a big spoon.”

They stood for a moment in silence, enjoying the quiet and the stream’s gentle trickle. The sun was getting low in the sky and Ruki couldn’t help but yawn.

“Staying up late?”

“Oh. Yeah, I guess…” When Ruki turned to her Juri, she saw that her friend was still staring out over the water.

“Just like Culumon.”

“Ah. Umm…” Ruki paused. Juri was still looking over the water but her eyes were distant. This happened to the girl sometimes; she would get lost in her thoughts or memories, far away. It was really bad in the years after the D-Reaper, but Ruki knew the other Tamer was working on it. “Hey, are you okay?”

Receiving no response, Ruki frowned. “Juri!”

“Ah!” The brown-haired girl blinked, then turned back with a forced smile. “Oh, you know, just peachy…”

Ruki placed a firm hand on her shoulder and forced their eyes to meet. “Come on, Juri. I know something’s up. You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want but… please try to avoid bottling it up. We both know that’s not good for anyone.”

Juri sighed but couldn’t prevent a small smile from forming. “Maybe there’s an itty bitty something…”

“Knew it!” Ruki grinned. From the girl’s expression it couldn’t be _that_ bad, which was a relief. “Let me guess: Something at school? At the restaurant? Something to do with Takato?”

“Ah, yeah. Well, the Takato thing.”

Ruki grabbed her hands. “Juri, I swear to god if he did something to you I will—”

“Ah, no! No, he’s fine. Wonderful and sweet as ever. Perfect, really.” She frowned. “Why do you always jump to that anyway?”

“So what, he’s flying circles around your head or something?”

Juri fiddled with the hem of her dress. “No, not that either. Not really. It’s just… well, he _has_ been _flying_ a lot. You know?”

_Ah._ Juri wasn’t wrong—Takato _had_ been flying a lot, so much so that Guilmon was starting to feel left out. But then again, if she suddenly had wings _she’d_ probably be flying a lot too. Instead, she’d been spending a few nights a week prowling around Shinjuku and bounding over rooftops. It was pretty fun but did result in some daytime yawning.

When she said as much, Juri looked out again. “None of this feels right. I mean, we all wake up one morning and can suddenly turn into a random animal? And our families too? Why _us?”_

Ruki shrugged. “I know Jenrya’s parents are on an experiment kick trying to figure it out but… my best guess is its cause we’re Tamers. Why not?” When Juri opened her mouth to protest, Ruki hardened her gaze: “—and DON’T tell me you’re not a Tamer, because I swear to god I will walk away right now.”

There was a sound in Juri’s backpack and a little white head poked out. “Hi there Ruki! What’re you guys up to?”

Juri laughed. “Hey, little guy! Good morning! Well, more like good evening really.”

Culumon expanded his ears in excitement and hopped up onto Juri’s head. “Wow, evening! That’s the best time of day! Well, along with all the others at least…”

Luckily, Juri had the foresight to pack a snack for the little digimon. As he munched away, the two continued their walk in silence for a while.

“What’s it like?”

“Hmm?” Ruki looked both ways for cars and beckoned Juri across the street. “What’s what like?”

“Being, you know… a cat.”

“I mean, it’s pretty cool. Everything smells and sounds and looks a lot better and the entire world is basically your jungle gym…”

“Ah. Cool.”

“Juri…” Ruki glanced at her friend and saw that distant, wistful look again. “I’m really glad you told me and I _hear_ you that it’s painful and I can’t even begin to understand what it’s like… I just wonder this is actually a gift in disguise? Something good, rather than—”

“A cruel joke?” Juri said softly. “Yeah…”

Soon, they reached the intersection where they had to part ways towards their respective homes. Just as the brown-haired Tamer started to turn the corner, Ruki called after her. “Hey! I’m probably gonna go hang out in the park later. You should join me.”

Juri paused, then turned her head away and continued out of sight.

Renamon appeared at Ruki’s side. “You seem to have a talent for convincing your friends to stay up all night.”

“Maybe I’m just good at getting people to let loose. Everyone worries too much these days.”

The fox digimon smirked. “Who knows, maybe you’ll start saying ‘moumentai’ too…”

“HEY!” Ruki punched Renamon and grinned. “Too far. If you weren’t my partner I’d be ripping your head off right now. You know that right?”

“Of course, Ruki,” Renamon said before turning around and walking briskly in the direction of home. Ruki jogged to catch up with her. “I’m sure you’d try.”

\--

**Jenrya**

“Jen, would you please _sit still!?”_

<Umm, how much longer is this gonna be?> Jenrya squeaked, snout twitching. <Can’t you just take a picture or something?>

Takato groaned and continued to sketch furiously. “We already talked about this! A photograph doesn’t capture the depth and contour of real figure drawing, plus you _offered!_ Anyway, do we really want a digital record of, umm…” He gestured up at Jenrya.

<You make it sound like it’s scandalous or something…> Jenrya grumbled. It _wasn’t_ scandalous. More so… weird? Surreal? He was sitting on his haunches in Takato’s room, lifted up to almost full height with his head brushing the ceiling, holding a very tiny teacup in one massive paw and an equally tiny plate of cookies in the other. He didn’t usually like shortbread cookies but boy did these smell good, and was that a hint of _molasses?_

The position itself wasn’t actually that bad. Sure, he was terrified he’d crush the teacup into a million pieces at any second, but that was Takato’s problem and not his. No, the bad part was dealing with the overpowering desire to scratch his back paw. This happened sometimes, when he was getting an x-ray or at the dentist; told to ‘STAY STILL’, something or other just _had_ to choose that exact moment to get really itchy, or uncomfortable, or whatever. Apparently, this applied to bears too.

“Hey, this is looking really good!” Takato grinned, leaning back against the bed. “What do you think?”

Jenrya tried to look at the drawing without moving his head, which proved to be impossible. <Can you at least point it this way?>

Takato just continued to consider the illustration with a pleased expression.

<TAKATO!>

“Ah! Sorry! You can move now.” The Tamer gave him an apologetic look.

<Oh thank god,> Jenrya sighed, immediately wiggling his back paw. With that taken care of, he carefully placed the teacup aside and lowered back down. <So can I eat these now?>

Nodding, Takato scooted over to Jenrya and flipped the drawing tablet to face him. “Not bad, right? I was gonna put you in a meadow or something but I actually like the bedroom. It makes it a little less predictable. You’re not gonna finish those?”

Jenrya paused, setting the half-eaten cookies down. <No, no, I am! I just think I’ll appreciate them more as a human. Bears don’t have great taste buds.>

“Oh, huh. Just save one for Guilmon, OK?”

The illustration on Takato’s tablet was, of course, very good. He’d been experimenting with a new style recently: some surreal blend of anatomical illustration and those old French comics they found at Ruki’s house. Jenrya initially thought the “bear-with-teacup-and-cookies” premise was a bit too precious, but now he was starting to see how it could work.

“Anyway, I’ll tell you when I’m done. I think my followers are gonna eat this one up.” Takato clicked off the tablet screen and stood up, stretching. Jenrya rolled forward onto four paws and kicked out his hind legs one by one, accidentally knocking into the dresser in the process. <Ah, sorry. Do you need any more bear? If not, I’m gonna turn back and finish these cookies.>

“Nah, you’re good,” Takato replied, flopping back on his bed and turning away.

With the smell of molasses becoming all too tempting, Jenrya shifted to human form. It was much easier now, almost like second nature—indeed, the sensation of fur rippling on and off his back even provided an odd feeling of comfort. With quite a bit of practice he’d also figured out how to shift with some bike shorts on, though the whole thing still felt like a private matter.

Once he was fully clothed and munching on cookies, the two sat in comfortable silence. The nice thing about knowing someone as well as he knew Takato was that they could just _exist_ together—and they did, frequently. As far as Takato’s parents were concerned Jenrya was basically their extra son, and he knew his parents felt the same about Takato.

Of course, this also lulled him into a false sense of security sometimes.

“Hey, do you like Ruki?”

Jenrya choked on a cookie. “Uh, well, she sucked at first but don’t we all like her now?”

“Come on, you know that’s not what I mean.” Takato tossed down his phone and swung to the side of the bed. “Okay, this is gonna sound bad but I guess Terriermon was gossiping to Guilmon about you guys having some sort of ‘sexual tension’.” He frowned. “I had to explain to Guilmon what that meant, and before you ask, yes, it was terrible. _Please_ don't tell me that was all for nothing!”

Seeing Jenrya’s grimace, Takato plopped down on the floor and swung an arm around his shoulder. “Come on, Jen, it’s fine! I just want to help if you’re crushing hard on someone; god knows you helped me with Juri. I couldn’t care less if it’s Ruki or the Queen of England!”

Jenrya sighed, setting aside his laptop. “Okay, yeah, I think she’s cute. But like, not just cute! Also smart and funny and kind, even if she tries to hide it…” he glanced at Takato, who was gaping at him with wide eyes. “Oh, stop it. I have the ability to like people too, you know!”

“I guess you do…” He grinned a stupid, lopsided grin. “It’s just so _cute!_ After you rejected Naomi and that other girl AND Shinji, Hirokazu thought maybe you just weren’t attracted to people in general… but I always knew you’d be a hopeless romantic, just waiting for the right person.” Takato sighed and leaned back. “Who would have thought it’d be Ruki…”

“Okay, I don’t know about _hopeless_ romantic…”

Takato stared, waiting for more, then—“So you WERE just waiting for the right person! HAH, I KNEW it!”

“Please tell me you remember Yuko! I _have_ dated people before. Then again we were thirteen, so maybe it doesn’t count…” Jenrya sighed. He’d never really thought of it as ‘waiting for the right person’ before. There just wasn’t anyone he liked. “Is this weird? I mean, we’ve all been through so much together… isn’t it like, you know, a breach of trust or something?”

The goggled Tamer shrugged. “Beats me. I don’t think so, though; you can’t control how you feel. Just don’t be creepy and drop it if she says no.”

_If she says no…_ “Are you suggesting I _ask her out_?”

“Why not?” Takato said thoughtfully. “I was too afraid to ask Juri out, and talk about sexual tension—we spent three years as ‘friends’ crushing hard on each other until she got the courage to just ask me out herself. Better to just do it now and save yourself years of pining.”

“We’ll see.” Jenrya frowned. To be honest, asking out Ruki sounded like a death wish. And even if she said yes… what would they actually do? See a movie? Fancy dinner? _Hold hands_? Were dates still a thing at all? Did he even _want_ to go on a date with her?

And, most importantly: would Terriermon ever let him live it up?

\--

**Ruki**

Juri did show up that night, but Ruki knew she would. What surprised her more was that, rather than the Juri she was used to, it was a massive lioness that slunk out of the shadows to meet her.

Ruki didn’t even try to stop gaping. The creature was incredible: all muscle and sinew and raw power, held aloft on silent paws. It was calm— relaxed, even— as if it knew in its very being that no person, no animal, _nothing_ could shake it. Nothing was a threat, not for the lion.

“Juri…” Ruki reached a tentative hand forward, eyes wide. Rather than meet her touch, however, the animal raised its lips to reveal dagger-sharp teeth. A low growling noise emerged from its throat and Ruki stumbled back in surprise. “Uh, Juri…?”

The lioness took one step forward, then another, close to the ground, _stalking her_ — until it sat back suddenly and stuck its tongue out. <HAH! Oh my gosh, I totally got you!>

“Umm, not funny!!??” Ruki glared at Juri, trying to push her adrenaline back down. “What if you were an escaped zoo animal or something!?”

<Huh. I guess it wouldn’t have ended as well.>

Ruki stepped forward again and this time Juri met her hand with a purr. Her fur was bristly and strong, protecting wiry muscles bursting with potential energy. “Juri, you’re…”

<Pretty cool, right? I was walking here to meet you and I passed by that part of the park where, umm… where I met Leomon. I usually avoid it, but for some reason my feet took me there.> The lioness inspected her paws. <Culumon already dashed off a few minutes earlier so I was alone; just me and all of that emptiness and quiet, where he was _supposed_ to be but _wasn’t_.> Her voice quivered. <I wished so hard to be close to him again, to be given even the smallest indication that he’s still _out there_ , somewhere, and… well, this happened.>

Ruki scrutinized her friend. Even years later, the wounds that Leomon’s death left behind were still raw. Losing her partner had torn something out of Juri: a part of her that could never be replaced. Yet the creature in front of her seemed relaxed, and self-assured, and… confident, even?

The lioness turned its head to the sky, whiskers twitching. <Leomon always told me I was strong. For the first time, I actually feel it. Likes he’s here with me again.>

They stood there in silence for a moment, and Ruki noticed her eyes were wet. When Juri asked her if she wanted to ‘go do some cat things or whatever’, she eagerly agreed.

After some hours of stalking through the park and joking around and, at Ruki’s insistence, scaring a bunch of drunk teenagers, the two found themselves at the banks of the river. The moon was high and bright and the scent of cherry blossoms intoxicating, even more so now than in human form. Juri was still giggly from the excitement of prancing around as a lion all night and Ruki was overjoyed at how happy her friend seemed.

In true cat fashion, as soon as Ruki was relaxed Juri pounced. <Hey, what do you think of Jen?>

Ruki rolled over, stretching out her legs. <Jenrya? He’s cool. He’s the team mom.>

<Okay, obviously, but what besides that?>

She considered this. <I mean, I’ve been stuck with him and the rest of you since we were twelve. Jenrya’s just Jenrya; you know, reliable, risk adverse, likes computers, hangs out with Terriermon… actually, there’s something. His partner’s an asshole.>

<Ugh, Ruki!> Juri pawed at her. <I can’t tell if you’re avoiding my question or if you’re actually oblivious! Look, I’m pretty sure Jen has a huge crush on you.>

That comment made her pause. It didn’t _not_ make sense. <He does send, like, essay texts to me. The kind where you can tell he rewrote it a bunch of times.>

<Ah.> Juri winced. <Yeah, I sort of did that to Takato back in the day… when you like someone, every interaction with them feels super special so you try really hard not to mess it up.>

<It was annoying at first but now I just think it’s sort of cute.> She actually liked receiving those stupid texts; recently she’d even found herself smiling whenever a notification popped up from Jenrya. If that was all because he _liked_ her… <Oh my god. I can’t believe I made him strip the other day.>

Juri snorted. <You WHAT!?>

<Okay, it’s not as bad as it sounds! He was like you, didn’t want to shift into his animal, so I just teased him a bunch until he did.>

<And you say Terriermon’s the asshole…>

<Yeah, yeah, point taken. In my defense, it did work.>

Juri scooted closer and caught her eye. <I’m not gonna tell you to go after him or anything, don’t worry. I just thought you should know: you can make a choice on your own.>

Honestly, Ruki didn’t quite know what to think of it. Jenrya had never really felt like an _option_ before; not just because they’d saved the world together, but also because he’d seemed above it all… dating, teenage hormones, the like. Just what you’d expect from a good team mom. He _did_ date that girl for like six months in the eighth grade, so she just assumed he got it out of his system then.

Eventually, Juri insisted she had to get to sleep and they headed back to the area where she’d hid her clothes. The other Tamer had also, apparently, figured out the whole ‘shifting with underwear’ thing and agreed it wasn’t very hard. Ruki couldn’t help but wonder if the boys were just _bad_ at it. Once Juri was dressed and ready to go, she paused and caught Ruki’s eyes. “You were right. This definitely beats shopping.”

It wasn’t until they were safely home and Ruki was once again cursing the fact that she’d stayed up all night _again_ that Renamon told her Juri smelled like digimon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Please drop a comment if you enjoyed or have feedback :)

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! I welcome any and all comments/feedback :)


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